The Lieutenant hardly knew how he reached the deck and sped along it, but in a moment he had leaped down the ladder toward the open door of the magazine, where an ominous crackling was heard. And instead of half a dozen men at work flooding the magazine, there were half a dozen pale, wild-eyed, and panic-stricken creatures, as the bravest will be sometimes, crowding out into the passage, and quite dazed with fear.
"Return to your duty!" shouted Mr. Belton, feeling for his pistol, and not finding it, seizing a bucket of water that was handy and dashing it in the men's faces. The shock brought them to their senses; they stopped in their mad flight and turned toward the magazine. Mr. Belton rushed like a catapult among them, wedged together in the narrow passage, and right behind was old Jimmylegs with a bucket of water. They could see a boyish figure on hands and knees in the magazine with a wet swab, crawling about and putting out the sparks that flashed from all over the floor. The next moment the whole floor was awash; the danger was over, and Mr. Belton and the master-at-arms had time to observe that the boy who had stood to his post when men fled was Crying Tommy, and he was crying vigorously. When he saw that the fire was out, he sat down on the wet floor and began to howl louder than ever. Old Jimmylegs seized him by the shoulder, and giving him a shake that made his teeth rattle in his head, bawled,
"Choke a luff, and tell the orficer about the fire!"
Crying Tommy was so scared at this that he actually stopped weeping, and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket.
"I see the loose powder on the floor burning, and the men saw it, and then one of em called out, 'Oh Lord! we're dead men!' and they all ran away." Here Crying Tommy piped up again.
"And you didn't run away. Go on," said Mr. Belton.
"And I reached out for the swab and the water-bucket, and I swabbed the floor the best I could."
"A-cryin' all the time, no doubt," put in old Jimmylegs.
"I couldn't help it, sir," whimpered Crying Tommy.
"Well," said Mr. Belton, "you had something to cry for this time. Now get out of here. You've saved the ship."
Not long after this, one Sunday morning, the boatswain was directed to pipe all hands up and aft. And when all the officers and men were assembled, the Captain read out the appointment of Thomas Hopkins, apprentice boy, as acting gunner's mate for his gallantry in putting out the fire in the magazine on that May morning. Then Mr. Belton handed Tommy a handsome watch as a gift from the officers, at which the men cheered, and Tommy bowed and bowed again, and presently put up his ever-ready jacket sleeve to his eye; and the officers roared with laughing and the men grinned, and Tommy went below, weeping but very happy.